DOI Heft:
January 22, 1881
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17750#0033
January 22, 1881.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
25
SUCCESSFUL "BOYCOTTING" AT THE
ST. JAMES'S.
Authors and Actors are to be congratulated on the success of
The Money ^ Spinner, an interesting two-act play by Mr. A W.
PlNERO.
Mr. Kendalls rarely been better suited than with Lord Ken-
gussie, Mr. Hare revels in the Baron Croodle,
and never since All for Her has Mr. Clayton
given us such an artistic performance as his
Harold Boycott—a most unfortunate and risky
name just now. Had the piece been weak and
the acting indifferent, one yoice from the
gallery, where the old gods are not yet
dead, shouting out " 'Boycott' himj " would
have been fatal to the chances of a first night.
Luckily no malicious deity was present, and
even had he been there, the strength of the
piece and the excellence of the acting [would
have been too much for him.
As Jules Faubert, Mr. Mackintosh took us
by surprise. The character is perhaps a trifle
overcharged, but it must be borne in mind
that he is placed in three distinctly strong
melodramatic situations, and above all, it must
Croodle's Cordial, be remembered that Jules Faubert is a Detec-
tive, and therefore, bound by all stage rules to
be perpetually "dissembling," and so to be always exciting suspicion
and attracting attention. Taking this conventional view of the Detec-
tive into consideration, and remembering also that it is a French
Detective who is being represented to an English audience, great
allowances must be made for exaggerated action, where so much—
unhappily for truthful art—would be expected. Those who are
familiar with M. Lecocq, the real French
Detective at the head of his profession as
drawn by Gaboriau, will at once recognise
what a subtle performance Mr. Mackin-
tosh might have given us—for he has the
power—had he and the Author only dared
to brave the conventional theatrical tradi-
tion. As it might have been, it would
have been perfect; and taking it for what
it is, and judging it by the usual standard,
it is as good as it possibly can be.
Mrs. Kendal's Millicent Boycott is
faultless : even her little mannerisms are
part and parcel of the character. She is
the lady mentioned by the poet, who—■
" Makes sunshine in a shady place."
And, truth to tell, the dramatis persona?
are a very shady lot indeed. But of this
—more anon. As Dorinda, Miss Kate ,r
Phillips is a strong contrast to hex sister. Spj^ster^and £
But the vulgarity is just a little too Cent-pek-cent, the
markedly cockney for a young woman Money-Spinner.
who has been all her life in Paris. Mrs.
Gaston Murray is a good international concierge ; and the very
small part of the French porter, by a real live Frenchman, M. De
Verney, is intensely appreciated by everyone among the audience
who has been for at least two days to Boolong, and still more so by
those who haven't.
And now comes the wonder—namely, that an author should have
chosen such materials for a
piece, have managed them
so skilfully, and have had
the luck to get it so per-
fectly played as to cause
its objectionable character
and its wrong moral to be
lost sight of in the real in-
terest awakened by the
personages in the short
drama.
The story briefly is this :
—Harold Boy cott, to rescue
his father from some diffi-
culties (probably in Ireland
as he is never seen), robs
Milly hu-milly-ated ; or, Cheating his employers. A Detective
never prospers long. is set to watch him, dis-
tt ' covers the felony, and
Jlarold will be a lost man when his master returns next morning.
Mrs. Boycott remembering how she used to be called " the Money-
bpmner ' at her father's gaming-table, determines to win the money
from Lord Kengussie, her former lover now engaged to her sister,
at ecarte, and unable to do it by fair means, she cheats, and is dis-
covered by the Detective. This leads to an all-round explanation.
Kengussie, for her sake, makes up her husband's defalcations; the
Detective gets a " slap side o' the head" from Boycott for insinuat-
ing that his wife cheats, never receives an apology for the violence
when his charge is proved, loses his case, and is virtually kicked out
of the house.
Let us take the moral worth of these characters : Lord Kengussie,
or Kengoosie.—not such a fool as he looks—while still evidently deeply
in love with his old love, now Mrs. Boycott, engages himself to her
sister, and naively asks, " Is it very wrong to marry a person because
she resembles some one else, with Avhom I have been, and shall
always be in love?" These are not the exact words, but they convey
the true idea of the motive. Harold Boycott we may dismiss at once
as an unprincipled man, who, at the first temptation, robs the till.
Of course, the basis is weak, but the Author cares very little for
that, as long as he secures his strong situation. Baron Croodle is
simply a thorough old swindler, who is colour-blind to morality, with
his eye on the main chance and his mouth to the brandy-flask.
Millicent has all the makings of a genuine Becky Sharp, and after
being found out in her first attempt, it is impossible not to mistrust
her altogether. When Lord Kengoosie, on leaving,* gives her that
Kengoosie boycotting Boycott—" Let me Kiss her for her
Sister."
kiss by Boycott's permission, she takes it 'so demurely, and has
previously evinced such evident admiration for this young spooney,
that no wonder her sister feels a pang of jealousy, and Boycott looks
uncomfortable. Were_ there a sequel to this play, we should see the
vulgar Dorinda—who is delighted to catch a Lord, even though she
knows that he only takes her because he can't get her sister—an utterly
unfit wife for Kengoosie, whose home would be miserable, whose
relations would have cut him, and who would probably go off with
Mrs. Boycott,—while Harold, sunk deeper and deeper in the mire,
would play the rule of Raivdon Crawley when he surprised my Lord
Steyne with Mrs. Becky.
All these are miserable creatures, unhappily true to nature, "as
were Thackeray's characters who were never quite bad all at once.
The only upright honourable man is the French Detective who, faith-
ful to his employers, conscientiously discharges his most unpleasant
duty and suffers for it. But apart
from the admirable acting, which
might have carried an inferior work,
the faithful portraiture of the wife's
weakness under strong temptation
enlists our sympathies and makes the
success.
As to the construction, easily as the
action moves after the first mauvais
quart d'heure, yet the opening is so
awkward, the explanations so forced,
and the introduction of characters
so abrupt, that it seems as if a pre-
fatial Act, necessary to a clear
understanding of the plot, had been
lost. This First Act should have
shown Baron CroodWs gambling
saloon, and presented the Croodle
family and the Detective to the audi-
ence. _ _ General (Arthur) ;Eoberts,
< Our artist paid a second visit to Prince Florizel, and the
Mother Goose, and sends us— E-leg-trick. Heel.
theatricals at st. stephen s.
Lord Randolph Churchill (by kind permission of Mr. Jacob
Bright) will appear in Woodcock'1's Little Game.
VOL, 1XXX.
25
SUCCESSFUL "BOYCOTTING" AT THE
ST. JAMES'S.
Authors and Actors are to be congratulated on the success of
The Money ^ Spinner, an interesting two-act play by Mr. A W.
PlNERO.
Mr. Kendalls rarely been better suited than with Lord Ken-
gussie, Mr. Hare revels in the Baron Croodle,
and never since All for Her has Mr. Clayton
given us such an artistic performance as his
Harold Boycott—a most unfortunate and risky
name just now. Had the piece been weak and
the acting indifferent, one yoice from the
gallery, where the old gods are not yet
dead, shouting out " 'Boycott' himj " would
have been fatal to the chances of a first night.
Luckily no malicious deity was present, and
even had he been there, the strength of the
piece and the excellence of the acting [would
have been too much for him.
As Jules Faubert, Mr. Mackintosh took us
by surprise. The character is perhaps a trifle
overcharged, but it must be borne in mind
that he is placed in three distinctly strong
melodramatic situations, and above all, it must
Croodle's Cordial, be remembered that Jules Faubert is a Detec-
tive, and therefore, bound by all stage rules to
be perpetually "dissembling," and so to be always exciting suspicion
and attracting attention. Taking this conventional view of the Detec-
tive into consideration, and remembering also that it is a French
Detective who is being represented to an English audience, great
allowances must be made for exaggerated action, where so much—
unhappily for truthful art—would be expected. Those who are
familiar with M. Lecocq, the real French
Detective at the head of his profession as
drawn by Gaboriau, will at once recognise
what a subtle performance Mr. Mackin-
tosh might have given us—for he has the
power—had he and the Author only dared
to brave the conventional theatrical tradi-
tion. As it might have been, it would
have been perfect; and taking it for what
it is, and judging it by the usual standard,
it is as good as it possibly can be.
Mrs. Kendal's Millicent Boycott is
faultless : even her little mannerisms are
part and parcel of the character. She is
the lady mentioned by the poet, who—■
" Makes sunshine in a shady place."
And, truth to tell, the dramatis persona?
are a very shady lot indeed. But of this
—more anon. As Dorinda, Miss Kate ,r
Phillips is a strong contrast to hex sister. Spj^ster^and £
But the vulgarity is just a little too Cent-pek-cent, the
markedly cockney for a young woman Money-Spinner.
who has been all her life in Paris. Mrs.
Gaston Murray is a good international concierge ; and the very
small part of the French porter, by a real live Frenchman, M. De
Verney, is intensely appreciated by everyone among the audience
who has been for at least two days to Boolong, and still more so by
those who haven't.
And now comes the wonder—namely, that an author should have
chosen such materials for a
piece, have managed them
so skilfully, and have had
the luck to get it so per-
fectly played as to cause
its objectionable character
and its wrong moral to be
lost sight of in the real in-
terest awakened by the
personages in the short
drama.
The story briefly is this :
—Harold Boy cott, to rescue
his father from some diffi-
culties (probably in Ireland
as he is never seen), robs
Milly hu-milly-ated ; or, Cheating his employers. A Detective
never prospers long. is set to watch him, dis-
tt ' covers the felony, and
Jlarold will be a lost man when his master returns next morning.
Mrs. Boycott remembering how she used to be called " the Money-
bpmner ' at her father's gaming-table, determines to win the money
from Lord Kengussie, her former lover now engaged to her sister,
at ecarte, and unable to do it by fair means, she cheats, and is dis-
covered by the Detective. This leads to an all-round explanation.
Kengussie, for her sake, makes up her husband's defalcations; the
Detective gets a " slap side o' the head" from Boycott for insinuat-
ing that his wife cheats, never receives an apology for the violence
when his charge is proved, loses his case, and is virtually kicked out
of the house.
Let us take the moral worth of these characters : Lord Kengussie,
or Kengoosie.—not such a fool as he looks—while still evidently deeply
in love with his old love, now Mrs. Boycott, engages himself to her
sister, and naively asks, " Is it very wrong to marry a person because
she resembles some one else, with Avhom I have been, and shall
always be in love?" These are not the exact words, but they convey
the true idea of the motive. Harold Boycott we may dismiss at once
as an unprincipled man, who, at the first temptation, robs the till.
Of course, the basis is weak, but the Author cares very little for
that, as long as he secures his strong situation. Baron Croodle is
simply a thorough old swindler, who is colour-blind to morality, with
his eye on the main chance and his mouth to the brandy-flask.
Millicent has all the makings of a genuine Becky Sharp, and after
being found out in her first attempt, it is impossible not to mistrust
her altogether. When Lord Kengoosie, on leaving,* gives her that
Kengoosie boycotting Boycott—" Let me Kiss her for her
Sister."
kiss by Boycott's permission, she takes it 'so demurely, and has
previously evinced such evident admiration for this young spooney,
that no wonder her sister feels a pang of jealousy, and Boycott looks
uncomfortable. Were_ there a sequel to this play, we should see the
vulgar Dorinda—who is delighted to catch a Lord, even though she
knows that he only takes her because he can't get her sister—an utterly
unfit wife for Kengoosie, whose home would be miserable, whose
relations would have cut him, and who would probably go off with
Mrs. Boycott,—while Harold, sunk deeper and deeper in the mire,
would play the rule of Raivdon Crawley when he surprised my Lord
Steyne with Mrs. Becky.
All these are miserable creatures, unhappily true to nature, "as
were Thackeray's characters who were never quite bad all at once.
The only upright honourable man is the French Detective who, faith-
ful to his employers, conscientiously discharges his most unpleasant
duty and suffers for it. But apart
from the admirable acting, which
might have carried an inferior work,
the faithful portraiture of the wife's
weakness under strong temptation
enlists our sympathies and makes the
success.
As to the construction, easily as the
action moves after the first mauvais
quart d'heure, yet the opening is so
awkward, the explanations so forced,
and the introduction of characters
so abrupt, that it seems as if a pre-
fatial Act, necessary to a clear
understanding of the plot, had been
lost. This First Act should have
shown Baron CroodWs gambling
saloon, and presented the Croodle
family and the Detective to the audi-
ence. _ _ General (Arthur) ;Eoberts,
< Our artist paid a second visit to Prince Florizel, and the
Mother Goose, and sends us— E-leg-trick. Heel.
theatricals at st. stephen s.
Lord Randolph Churchill (by kind permission of Mr. Jacob
Bright) will appear in Woodcock'1's Little Game.
VOL, 1XXX.